Abstracting out common rspec functionality - ruby-on-rails

In a large number of our controller tests we must stub out pundit policy functionality like so:
policy = double("policy", :show? => true)
allow(UserPolicy).to receive(:new).and_return(policy)
My goal was to end up with something like allow_policy(UserPolicy).to(:show?) instead which reads much easier.
In order to accomplish this I wrote this little module which I included in my spec.
module PolicyFaker
def allow_policy(policy)
fake_policy = FakedPolicy.new
fake_policy.policy = policy
fake_policy
end
class FakedPolicy
attr_accessor :policy
def to(action)
policy = double("policy", action => true)
allow(policy).to receive(:new).and_return(policy)
end
def not_to(action)
policy = double("policy", action => false)
allow(policy).to receive(:new).and_return(policy)
end
def to_not(action)
not_to(action)
end
end
end
Unfortunately, you cannot use double or allow outside of a describe block and so this module does not work.
How can I accomplish something similar?

Are you including the module via rspec configure?
RSpec.configure do |c|
c.include PolicyFaker
end
If I remember correctly, allow_policy will be available and property scoped if you do it that way.

Related

Rails N+1 query : monkeypatching ActiveRecord::Relation#as_json

Situation
I have a model User:
def User
has_many :cars
def cars_count
cars.count
end
def as_json options = {}
super options.merge(methods: [:cars_count])
end
end
Problem
When I need to render to json a collection of users, I end up being exposed to the N+1 query problem. It is my understanding that including cars doesn't solve the problem for me.
Attempted Fix
What I would like to do is add a method to User:
def User
...
def self.as_json options = {}
cars_counts = Car.group(:user_id).count
self.map do |user|
user.define_singleton_method(:cars_count) do
cars_counts[user.id]
end
user.as_json options
end
end
end
That way all cars counts would be queried in a single query.
Remaining Issue
ActiveRecord::Relation already has a as_json method and therefore doesn't pick the class defined one. How can I make ActiveRecord::Relation use the as_json method from the class when it is defined? Is there a better way to do this?
Edits
1. Caching
I can cache my cars_count method:
def cars_count
Rails.cache.fetch("#{cache_key}/cars_count") do
cars.count
end
end
This is nice once the cache is warm, but if a lot of users are updated at the same time, it can cause request timeouts because a lot of queries have to be updated in a single request.
2. Dedicated method
Instead of calling my method as_json, I can call it my_dedicated_as_json_method and each time I need to render a collection of users, instead of
render json: users
write
render json: users.my_dedicated_as_json_method
However, I don't like this way of doing. I may forget to call this method somewhere, someone else might forget to call it, and I'm losing clarity of the code. Monkey patching seems a better route for these reasons.
Have you considered using a counter_cache for cars_count? It's a good fit for what you're wanting to do.
This blog article also offers up some other alternatives, e.g. if you want to manually build a hash.
If you really wanted to continue down the monkey patching route, then ensure that you are patching ActiveRecord::Relation rather than User, and override the instance method rather than creating a class method. Note that this will then affect every ActiveRecord::Relation, but you can use #klass to add a condition that only runs your logic for User
# Just an illustrative example - don't actually monkey patch this way
# use `ActiveSupport::Concern` instead and include the extension
class ActiveRecord::Relation
def as_json(options = nil)
puts #klass
end
end
Option 1
In your user model:
def get_cars_count
self.cars.count
end
And in your controller:
User.all.as_json(method: :get_cars_count)
Option 2
You can create a method which will get all the users and their car count. And then you can call the as_json method on that.
It would roughly look like:
#In Users Model:
def self.users_with_cars
User.left_outer_joins(:cars).group(users: {:id, :name}).select('users.id, users.name, COUNT(cars.id) as cars_count')
# OR may be something like this
User.all(:joins => :cars, :select => "users.*, count(cars.id) as cars_count", :group => "users.id")
end
And in your controller you can call as_json:
User.users_with_cars.as_json
Here is my solution in case someone else is interested.
# config/application.rb
config.autoload_paths += %W(#{config.root}/lib)
# config/initializers/core_extensions.rb
require 'core_extensions/active_record/relation/serialization'
ActiveRecord::Relation.include CoreExtensions::ActiveRecord::Relation::Serialization
# lib/core_extensions/active_record/relation/serialization.rb
require 'active_support/concern'
module CoreExtensions
module ActiveRecord
module Relation
module Serialization
extend ActiveSupport::Concern
included do
old_as_json = instance_method(:as_json)
define_method(:as_json) do |options = {}|
if #klass.respond_to? :collection_as_json
scoping do
#klass.collection_as_json options
end
else
old_as_json.bind(self).(options)
end
end
end
end
end
end
end
# app/models/user.rb
def User
...
def self.collection_as_json options = {}
cars_counts = Car.group(:user_id).count
self.map do |user|
user.define_singleton_method(:cars_count) do
cars_counts[user.id]
end
user.as_json options
end
end
end
Thanks #gwcodes for pointing me at ActiveSupport::Concern.

Dynamic generation of tests for an ActiveSupport::Concern

I have a Concern defined like this:
module Shared::Injectable
extend ActiveSupport::Concern
module ClassMethods
def injectable_attributes(attributes)
attributes.each do |atr|
define_method "injected_#{atr}" do
...
end
end
end
end
and a variety of models that use the concern like this:
Class MyThing < ActiveRecord::Base
include Shared::Injectable
...
injectable_attributes [:attr1, :attr2, :attr3, ...]
...
end
This works as intended, and generates a set of new methods that I can call on an instance of the class:
my_thing_instance.injected_attr1
my_thing_instance.injected_attr2
my_thing_instance.injected_attr3
My issue comes when I am trying to test the concern. I want to avoid manually creating the tests for every model that uses the concern, since the generated functions all do the same thing. Instead, I thought I could use rspec's shared_example_for and write the tests once, and then just run the tests in the necessary models using rspec's it_should_behave_like. This works nicely, but I am having issues accessing the parameters that I have passed in to the injectable_attributes function.
Currently, I am doing it like this within the shared spec:
shared_examples_for "injectable" do |item|
...
describe "some tests" do
attrs = item.methods.select{|m| m.to_s.include?("injected") and m.to_s.include?("published")}
attrs.each do |a|
it "should do something with #{a}" do
...
end
end
end
end
This works, but is obviously a horrible way to do this. Is there an easy way to access only the values passed in to the injectable_attributes function, either through an instance of the class or through the class itself, rather than looking at the methods already defined on the class instance?
Since you say that you "want to avoid manually creating the tests for every model that uses the concern, since the generated functions all do the same thing", how about a spec that tests the module in isolation?
module Shared
module Injectable
extend ActiveSupport::Concern
module ClassMethods
def injectable_attributes(attributes)
attributes.each do |atr|
define_method "injected_#{atr}" do
# method content
end
end
end
end
end
end
RSpec.describe Shared::Injectable do
let(:injectable) do
Class.new do
include Shared::Injectable
injectable_attributes [:foo, :bar]
end.new
end
it 'creates an injected_* method for each injectable attribute' do
expect(injectable).to respond_to(:injected_foo)
expect(injectable).to respond_to(:injected_bar)
end
end
Then, as an option, if you wanted to write a general spec to test whether an object actually has injectable attributes or not without repeating what you've got in the module spec, you could add something like the following to your MyThing spec file:
RSpec.describe MyThing do
let(:my_thing) { MyThing.new }
it 'has injectable attributes' do
expect(my_thing).to be_kind_of(Shared::Injectable)
end
end
What about trying something like this:
class MyModel < ActiveRecord::Base
MODEL_ATTRIBUTES = [:attr1, :attr2, :attr3, ...]
end
it_behaves_like "injectable" do
let(:model_attributes) { MyModel::MODEL_ATTRIBUTES }
end
shared_examples "injectable" do
it "should validate all model attributes" do
model_attributes.each do |attr|
expect(subject.send("injected_#{attr}".to_sym)).to eq (SOMETHING IT SHOULD EQUAL)
end
end
end
It doesn't create individual test cases for each attribute, but they should all have an assertion for each attribute. This might at least give you something to work from.

Reusing code ruby on rails

I've got a module in my project in lib/. it's content is like this :
module Search
module Score
def get_score
return 'something'
end
end
end
This Search has many different modules I need to use Score. I realize I need to add require in my model (I'm trying to use this from model). So here is my code (model) :
require 'search'
class User < ActiveRecord::Base
def get_user_score
#tried this :
p Search::Score.get_score #error
#this as well
score_instance = Score.new #error
score = Search::Score.get_score # error undefined method `get_score'
end
end
So how do I reuse the code I have in other class (module)?
To get it working you can either mix the module into your class:
require 'search'
class User < ActiveRecord::Base
include Search::Score
def get_user_score
p get_score # => "something"
end
end
Or you can define the method inside your module similar to class methods:
module Search
module Score
def self.get_score
return 'something'
end
end
end
If you do that, you can call get_score like expected:
require 'search'
class User < ActiveRecord::Base
def get_user_score
p Search::Score.get_score # => "something"
end
end
See this tutorial for a more in depth explanation about modules in Ruby.
First, see "Best Practices for reusing code between controllers in Ruby on Rails".
About reuse code as a module, take a look at "Rethinking code reuse with Modularity for Ruby".
"Modules are crippled classes"
Modules are like crippled classes in Ruby. If you look into the inheritance chain you see that a Class actually inherits from Module.
Module cannot be instanciated. So the call to .new is not working.
What you CAN do however is to specify your method as a 'class' method (I know I said it is not a class...)
So you would add a self in front like this:
module Search
module Score
def self.get_score
return 'something'
end
end
end
Then you can call this method as a class method like you tried in your code example
Search::Score is a module and not a class, so Score.new will not work.
You can try to change the signature of the get_score function to self.get_score.
In addition to def self.get_score in the above answers, there is also extend self, like so:
module Search
module Score
extend self
def get_score
return 'something'
end
end
end
and module_function:
module Search
module Score
module_function
def get_score
return 'something'
end
end
end
The latter is actually the preferred method in RuboCop (source), though in practice I personally have not seen it so often.

How to add attribute to existing Notifications payload?

In Rails notifications, I am subscribing to "process_action.action_controller", and would like to add more attributes to the payload. How can I do that?
I have tried using append_info_to_payload, but this seems to do nothing.
module AppendExceptionPayload
module ControllerRuntime
extend ActiveSupport::Concern
protected
def append_info_to_payload(payload)
super
payload[:happy] = "HAPPY"
end
end
end
The subscription and above code is in a Rails engine, so this is where I make the call to add it:
require 'append_exception_payload'
module Instrument
class Engine < ::Rails::Engine
ActiveSupport.on_load :action_controller do
include AppendExceptionPayload::ControllerRuntime
end
end
end
After putting up the bounty, I found a solution myself. Rails handles this really cleanly.
Basically, the append_info_to_payload method is meant exactly for this.
So to include session information and signed_in user information I added this to my application_controller.rb:
def append_info_to_payload(payload)
super
payload[:session] = request.session_options[:id] rescue ""
payload[:user_id] = session[:user_id] rescue "unknown"
end
So i jumped in and had a look at the api for the process_action method (private) and the append_info_to_payload instance method (public) and the proccess action method seems to call append_info_to_payload in its code like so:
ActiveSupport::Notifications.instrument("process_action.action_controller", raw_payload) do |payload|
result = super
payload[:status] = response.status
append_info_to_payload(payload)
result
end
and append_info_to_payload works something like this
def append_info_to_payload(payload) #:nodoc:
payload[:view_runtime] = view_runtime
end
I can suggest trying payload[:view_runtime] instead of payload[:happy] or trying to use payload[:status]
Let me know how you get on and I will try help more, unfortunately there is really no documentation for this stuff.

How do I cache a method with Ruby/Rails?

I have an expensive (time-consuming) external request to another web service I need to make, and I'd like to cache it. So I attempted to use this idiom, by putting the following in the application controller:
def get_listings
cache(:get_listings!)
end
def get_listings!
return Hpricot.XML(open(xml_feed))
end
When I call get_listings! in my controller everything is cool, but when I call get_listings Rails complains that no block was given. And when I look up that method I see that it does indeed expect a block, and additionally it looks like that method is only for use in views? So I'm guessing that although it wasn't stated, that the example is just pseudocode.
So my question is, how do I cache something like this? I tried various other ways but couldn't figure it out. Thanks!
an in-code approach could look something like this:
def get_listings
#listings ||= get_listings!
end
def get_listings!
Hpricot.XML(open(xml_feed))
end
which will cache the result on a per-request basis (new controller instance per request), though you may like to look at the 'memoize' helpers as an api option.
If you want to share across requests don't save data on the class objects, as your app will not be threadsafe, unless you're good at concurrent programming & make sure the threads don't interfere with each other's data access to the shared variable.
The "rails way" to cache across requests is the Rails.cache store. Memcached gets used a lot, but you might find the file or memory stores fit your needs. It really depends on how you're deploying and whether you want to prioritise cache hits, response time, storage (RAM), or use a hosted solution e.g. a heroku addon.
As nruth suggests, Rails' built-in cache store is probably what you want.
Try:
def get_listings
Rails.cache.fetch(:listings) { get_listings! }
end
def get_listings!
Hpricot.XML(open(xml_feed))
end
fetch() retrieves the cached value for the specified key, or writes the result of the block to the cache if it doesn't exist.
By default, the Rails cache uses file store, but in a production environment, memcached is the preferred option.
See section 2 of http://guides.rubyonrails.org/caching_with_rails.html for more details.
You can use the cache_method gem:
gem install cache_method
require 'cache_method'
In your code:
def get_listings
Hpricot.XML(open(xml_feed))
end
cache_method :get_listings
You might notice I got rid of get_listings!. If you need a way to refresh the data manually, I suggest:
def refresh
clear_method_cache :get_listings
end
Here's another tidbit:
def get_listings
Hpricot.XML(open(xml_feed))
end
cache_method :get_listings, (60*60) # automatically expire cache after an hour
You can also use cachethod gem (https://github.com/reneklacan/cachethod)
gem 'cachethod'
Then it is deadly simple to cache method's result
class Dog
cache_method :some_method, expires_in: 1.minutes
def some_method arg1
..
end
end
It also supports argument level caching
There was suggested cache_method gem, though it's pretty heavy. If you need to call method without arguments, solution is very simple:
Object.class_eval do
def self.cache_method(method_name)
original_method_name = "_original_#{method_name}"
alias_method original_method_name, method_name
define_method method_name do
#cache ||= {}
#cache[method_name] = send original_method_name unless #cache.key?(method_name)
#cache[method_name]
end
end
end
then you can use it in any class:
def get_listings
Hpricot.XML(open(xml_feed))
end
cache_method :get_listings
Note - this will also cache nil, which is the only reason to use it instead of #cached_value ||=
Late to the party, but in case someone arrives here searching.
I use to carry this little module around from project to project, I find it convenient and extensible enough, without adding an extra gem. It uses the Rails.cache backend, so please use it only if you have one.
# lib/active_record/cache_method.rb
module ActiveRecord
module CacheMethod
extend ActiveSupport::Concern
module ClassMethods
# To be used with a block
def cache_method(args = {})
#caller = caller
caller_method_name = args.fetch(:method_name) { #caller[0][/`.*'/][1..-2] }
expires_in = args.fetch(:expires_in) { 24.hours }
cache_key = args.fetch(:cache_key) { "#{self.name.underscore}/methods/#{caller_method_name}" }
Rails.cache.fetch(cache_key, expires_in: expires_in) do
yield
end
end
end
# To be used with a block
def cache_method(args = {})
#caller = caller
caller_method_name = args.fetch(:method_name) { #caller[0][/`.*'/][1..-2] }
expires_in = args.fetch(:expires_in) { 24.hours }
cache_key = args.fetch(:cache_key) { "#{self.class.name.underscore}-#{id}-#{updated_at.to_i}/methods/#{caller_method_name}" }
Rails.cache.fetch(cache_key, expires_in: expires_in) do
yield
end
end
end
end
Then in an initializer:
# config/initializers/active_record.rb
require 'active_record/cache_method'
ActiveRecord::Base.send :include, ActiveRecord::CacheMethod
And then in a model:
# app/models/user.rb
class User < AR
def self.my_slow_class_method
cache_method do
# some slow things here
end
end
def this_is_also_slow(var)
custom_key_depending_on_var = ...
cache_method(key_name: custom_key_depending_on_var, expires_in: 10.seconds) do
# other slow things depending on var
end
end
end
At this point it only works with models, but can be easily generalized.
Other answers are excellent but if you want a simple hand-rolled approach you can do this. Define a method like the below one in your class...
def use_cache_if_available(method_name,&hard_way)
#cached_retvals ||= {} # or initialize in constructor
return #cached_retvals[method_name] if #cached_retvals.has_key?(method_name)
#cached_retvals[method_name] = hard_way.call
end
Thereafter, for each method you want to cache you can put wrap the method body in something like this...
def some_expensive_method(arg1, arg2, arg3)
use_cache_if_available(__method__) {
calculate_it_the_hard_way_here
}
end
One thing that this does better than the simplest method listed above is that it will cache a nil. It has the convenience that it doesn't require creating duplicate methods. Probably the gem approach is cleaner, though.
I'd like to suggest my own gem https://github.com/igorkasyanchuk/rails_cached_method
For example:
class A
def A.get_listings
....
end
end
Just call:
A.cached.get_listings

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